Iced Lemon and Coconut Slice

I don’t want to admit it…but seriously…coming home from a holiday where you are waited on hand and foot has been hell! So when I walked past the Muffin Something or Other shop and saw the Lemon Coconut Slices in the glass cabinet, I was filled with a longing to just buy one and be done with the whole concept of making every blessed thing from scratch! But I am not sure if I have been thermomixing for a little too long…I couldn’t do it. I need therapy. I need to be tied down and force fed fast food or premade cakes…is there anyone out there up for the task?

What I DID do was buy a pack of Arrowroot biscuits (shock, horror) and whip this up. I am not sure if it was the weather today, but it needed to be kept in the freezer to hold its shape. It has been totally humid and hot today, so I am going with that. Otherwise, try a little less butter, but it wouldn’t come together until I added the amount that appears in this recipe. And no, I didn’t make the butter myself! (Not this time.)

NEED:

Base;

Zest 2 lemons, finely grated

150g butter

50g cashews, roasted

250g pkg Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Icing;

400g icing sugar

Juice 1-2 lemons (around 50g)

70g butter, cubed

Enough shredded coconut to cover icing to taste

DO:

Place all base ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend 20 sec/speed 8 or until well blended and coming together.

Line a square baking tin with paper and press the mixture into it. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Make icing by placing all ingredients except coconut into Thermomix bowl and blending 20-30 sec/speed 6.

Spread on top of slice, top with coconut and place into freezer until ready to serve. Slice when frozen….and eat whenever you damn well feel like it!

Raspberry and Lime Spongey Mess

After an easy dessert? Got a sponge cake in the cupboard? (That was a joke…but you can run down to the shops right?) Most of this recipe can be quickly made and kept in the fridge for a desparate occasion…or go ahead, make a plan and make it as though you meant to…but either way? Delicious…go on, tell me all about it.

NEED:

Lime Butter;
Zest/juice 4 limes
120g sugar
160g unsalted butter , cubed
4 eggs

Berry Lime Coulis;
300g red berries of choice, fresh or frozen
65g sugar
Finely grated zest 1 lime
Juice 1 lime

Passionfruit Cream;

600g cream
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste
Pulp 2 passionfruit (grenadilla)

Assembly;
450g sponge cake, cubed
Additional raspberries to garnish

DO:

Lime Butter;

Place lime zest and sugar into mixing bowl and mill 15 sec/speed 10.

Add butter and chop 5 sec/speed 7.

Insert Butterfly and add all remaining Lime butter ingredients. Cook 10 min/80ºC/speed 4. Remove from bowl and set aside. Cool.

Make Lime Berry Coulis.

Place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and cook 8 min/90°C/speed 1.

Blend 1 min/speed 6.

Strain through fine mesh sieve and refrigerate until use.

Whip chilled cream with sugar and vanilla in clean dry Thermomix bowl, with inserted butterfly 10-20 sec/speed 4.

Add passionfruit pulp and incorporate gently 4 sec/speed 4.

 Assembly;

Place cubes of sponge cake into large glass serving bowl, or several individual glasses. Drizzle with a little Berry Lime coulis. Dollop with Lime Butter and Passionfruit Cream. Repeat layering until all ingredients are used ending with cream. Garnish with raspberries. Serve chilled.

FIni Olive Oil Chocolate Mousse Tart

I know I can carry the chocolate thing too far sometimes…take for example the Crio Bru grounds in my Avocado dip…(don’t knock it until you try it!) But there really isnt a down side to a chocolate pastry base, filled with a chocolate mousse filling, and then, why not, to hell with the expense, top it off with some gorgeous berryness! This recipe was one I actually developed for the lovely Justine Schofield…if you are listening Jus, I am freelance now…busier than a cut snake, but hey, text me! (RecipesRittenRUs!!) It has subsequently been seen around various sources, so by now no means original…and even this is a tweak. But oh what a delicious one! Enjoy!

Chocolate Dough; 

NEED:

100g sugar

230g plain flour

120g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

35g Valrhona cocoa (or other high quality cocoa)

3 egg yolks

1tbsp iced water

DO:

Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add flour, butter and cocoa and mix 6 sec/speed 6.

Add egg yolks and water and mix 6-8 sec/speed 6-7 until a ball of dough forms.

Turn mixture out onto floured Silpat mat and push together with your hands. Form a flat disc, wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour to chill.

Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Roll dough out to 3mm thick and line 8 individual tart tins, or a 23cm tin with pastry.

Trim edges and dock pastry with a fork all over the base. Refrigerate again for 30 minutes.

Blind bake for 15 minutes, remove beads and cook a further 10 minutes until crisp.

Allow to cool completely before filling.

Mousse Filling;

NEED:

150g good quality dark chocolate

50g milk

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

300g whipping cream

100g fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries to garnish.

DO:

Place chocolate into Thermomix bowl and chop 10 sec/speed 8.

Add milk and vanilla and cook 2 min/50ºC/speed 1. Remove from bowl and set aside.

Without cleaning bowl, insert butterfly.

Place cream into Thermomix bowl and whip 10 sec/speed 4 or until soft peaks form.

Add melted chocolate back into Thermomix bowl and mix 3 sec/speed 4.

Pour EVOO onto lid with MC in place and incorporate 20-25 sec/speed 2.

Assemble by spooning mousse into prepared tart cases, topping with fresh berries and serving immediately.

Raw Lime Tartlets

I put a little note up on Facebook…not that I am short on ideas, but I did ask what you (the 52,000 + readers of this blog!!) would like me to convert or make in Thermomix. The answers came thick and fast and one of them was this; a Raw Key Lime pie…now this is not quite a Key Lime pie…more of a tart tart and using just plain old limes…Key Limes are a variety with a more tart or acidic flavour. Certainly raw though…made in moments, so easy and so delicious. Happily, also fitting the parameters of my new year mantra, Empty the Pantry (before shopping for more!) I had all the ingredients except the limes. So here you go Chandler…enjoy!

NEED:

Crust;

130g macadamia nuts

70g cashews

Generous pinch sea salt

20g maple syrup

25g coconut oil

Filling;

Finely grated zest 3 limes

60g lime juice, fresh (approx 3 limes)

140g ripe avocado flesh

70g maple syrup

10g coconut oil

Pinch sea salt

DO:

Place all crust ingedients into Thermomix bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 6. Press into 5 tartlet tins or one large. Place into freezer.

To make filling place all ingredients into Thermomix bowl and blend 5 sec/speed 5. Scrape down and blend 10 sec/speed 4. Check the mixture is smooth and lump free.

Reblend if necessary.

Fill tartlet shells and return to freezer for at least an hour. Garnish with coconut flakes or additional lime zest. Serve straight from the freezer. A great dollop of whipped coconut cream is awesome on these.

Ice Cream Cheese Christmas Pudding

Well it is summer down under folks…so that is what we do here! Similar in everyway to a traditional Christmas pudding, this is just frozen and gluten free! (And with the benefit of Crio Bru, I think we can safely call it a health food!) A little planning is required due to the soaking of the fruit…and I am not talking about myself when referring to either the soaking or the fruit…let us be clear. I have been as frantic as the rest of the world with things to attend, shopping for all and sundry, plates of goodies to provide, and sometimes up to 3 functions on a single day, but this was seriously so easy that you can whip this up and be serving it on the 25th without any dramas at all!

NEED:

60g each dried cherries, craisins, raisins

60g each glace cherries, figs, apricots

A few pieces glace citrus

Zest each 1 lemon, orange, finely grated

80g brandy or rum

60g left over brewed Crio Bru grounds (the soft sludgey stuff)

60g chopped chocolate

50g sugar

1 cinnamon stick

1 whole nutmeg

1/2 tonka bean (optional)

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

250g cream cheese

Juice each 1 lemon, orange,

200g cream

300g milk

DO:

Place all fruits, zests and brandy or rum (or both!!) into an insulated bowl and stir to cover. Allow to soak for around 2-3 days, stirring occasionally.

Add Crio Bru grounds and chopped chocolate to fruit mixture and set aside until use.

Place sugar and all spices into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 10.

Add remaining ingredients except fruit/chocolate mixture and blend for 30 sec/speed 6. Scrape down sides of bowl and repeat.

Add fruit, chocolate mixture and incorporate 5 sec/Interval. Stir by hand to finish, ensuring that fruit is separated and well coated in the ice cream mix.

Line 1-2 pudding bowls (or deep bowls) with baking paper, pushing the paper against the walls of the bowls, so that the surface is flat. If you have big folds of paper, the mixture will get inbetween and you will lose some of it when unmoulding.

Pour mixture in and freeze for at least 24 hours. To serve, dip basin into bath of cold water, and up turn onto serving platter. Remove paper, garnish with holly, fruit, nuts, chocolate syrup, or whatever takes your fancy.

The options for this are highly adaptable; if you don’t like nutmeg, leave it out, if you don’t like glace cherries, leave them out, but replace them with same quantity of something else and so on…if you don’t like chocolate, I can’t help you…and if you don’t have Crio Bru, you need to get on to it immediately before Christmas is upon us!

Crio Bru Pavlova Stack

I made this for my dear old dad’s birthday. I had been planning such a creation for while, ever since seeing a picture on Pinterest which I pinned (yes folks, yet another social networking thing I have become enamoured with!) So this is a bit of copy, but yet my own invention…Happy 80th father of mine!

NEED:

Pav Layers;

240g sugar

6 egg whites

1 pinch cream of tartar

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

25g Coco River Crio Bru granules

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

Filling;

2 tbsp sugar

900 mls cream (1 & 1/2 cartons)

25g Cocoa River Crio Bru granules

1 tsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

500g strawberries, sliced

DO:

Preheat oven to 140ºC. Line  3 trays with baking paper and mark 20cm circumference on each piece of paper. Set aside.

Place sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 10 sec/speed 1o. Reserve 2 tbsp for cream filling.

NOW (may the Gods not strike me dead!!)….plug in your handbeaters…or kitchen aid and place the room temperature egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean dry non plastic bowl. Beat until foamy. Add vinegar to bowl.

Add milled sugar a little at a time until you have a stiff meringue and there is no longer any grains in the mix. (Test this by rubbing a little mixture between your finger and thumb.)

Fold through Crio Bru granules and vanilla bean paste with large sweeping motions, preferably with a metal spoon. Divid mixture between the 3 circles on prepared trays. Cook for 40-50 minutes until meringue is crisp and risen. Cool in the oven with door slightly ajar.

To make filling place all ingredients except strawberries into Thermomix bowl, insert Butterfly and whip for 20-40 sec/speed 4 or until soft peaks form.

To assemble, place a little dollop of cream onto centre of serving plate. Push one meringue circle onto the cream. This will hold it in place.

Spread that meringue with 1/3 cream mixture. Place a few sliced strawberries on top, then add the second meringue. Repeat with 1/3 cream and  strawberries, finishing with the final meringue, cream and strawberries.

Refrigerate and allow to soften a little for a few hours. (This will make it easier to slice.)

Rhubarb-ade

With its vibrant colour this drink is great for Christmas, and is one of my mother’s many favoured recipes…she has so many, and I still have to cook/convert them all. My daughter who is moving to Brissy after Christmas has asked me a few cooking questions lately and seriously will need a Thermomix, just to survive of course. I am hoping she will channel her inner Tenina, who is really just channeling her inner Jeanne. Thanks for this beautiful recipe mum.

Vanilla, Lemon, Coconut Sorbet

I know you are all used to making sorbet. There is a sorbet recipe for practically every fruit on the planet that has been invented and/or demonstrated at every Thermomix demo, Varoma demo or cooking class that you have ever attended in Australia at least! Officially sorbet is made with a syrup which is then added to other ingredients, frozen and churned. Of course the Thermomix method is a whole lot easier because of its amazing blending speed. But just for a moment, lets go back to tradition. Freeze this mixture in an ice cube tray, then blend as you need it. Almost as good as the instant thermomix version…and well, I am not afraid to admit it, I actually ate a lot of this without the usual brain freeze that I get from the Thermomix sorbet. Needless to say, it is all gone!

NEED:

Zest 1 lemon in long strips

300g sugar of choice (as unprocessed as possible)

300g water

2tbsp Heilala vanilla bean paste

2 x 400ml tin coconut milk

DO:

Place zest, sugar and water into Thermomix bowl and bring to a boil for 5 min/100ºC/Reverse + speed 1.

Cool slightly. Remove lemon peel.

Add vanilla and coconut milk and blend 10 sec/speed 4.

Pour into ice cube moulds and freeze until solid.

Remove frozen cubes and blend 1-2 min/speed 8 with the aid of the spatula.

Serve immediately or refreeze in loaf tin.

Can we have a little conversation about sugars? Like salts and oils, they really make a difference to flavour in the finished product. I personally love all the Billingtons range and am also hooked on La Perruche (worth a visit to their website just for the cruisy music they play!) pure cane cubes which is what I used for this recipe, thus the caramel hue to the finished result. There is an excellent article on Quirky Jo’s website discussing all of this and I would love you to go and read it. It is totally the best source for you to understand all the differences between sugars and the processes by which they are manafactured.

Christmas Stollen

I cannot believe it; I have blinked and Christmas 2011 is here! Phew, what a year…can I just recap?

• Turned 50, but don’t tell anyone! I went to Phuket with the whole family (and that in itself is a story!)
• Went to Dubai and worked with George Calombaris, as my alter ego Candy Liscious the failed beauty queen.
• Thermomix in Australia launched the Asian cookbook, which I had been working on for a long time.
• Went to Melbourne and spent a couple of days with the amazing Dani Valent on the In the Mix shoot.
• Then went to Germany and Switzerland as part of the International Jury for a beautiful new Vorwerk Cookbook, out soon.
• Completed the recipes and photo shoot for the Thermomix in Australia 2012 Calendar available now.
• My number four child went to the States to study.
• I LEFT THERMOMIX in Australia! (Phew, thats a biggie, so deserved capitals!) July 4th, need I remind you, Independance Day, was my last day at head office and if you thought I was busy thus far, can I just mention…things then went into overdrive.
• Had a 3 part skype interview with Super Helene from SuperKitchen Machine, arguably the most prolific and up to date blogger on all things Thermomix. (Which interview served to press the fast forward button on a number of things! Seriously, if you want the thermomix world to know about something, just mention it to Helene, she probably knows it already, but she can spread the word faster than anyone.)
• Created a Dinner Spinner, a small book consisting of 21 recipes that you can create yourself in a Thermomix, which in one week, sold 700 copies …and many more to go yet!
• I also got all jiggy and wrote, and styled a cookbook called For Food’s Sake which has 160 pages, full colour pictures for every recipe (80 of those) and is so gorgeous, that I can scarcely stand the excitement. It will be available on here really soon, as well as in good bookstores and also online at Hub and Spoke or at my cooking classes!
• Speaking of which; I started running my own advanced cooking classes using Thermomix. These have been held in Melbourne, Sydney, Newcastle, Perth and Mandurah to sell out crowds of amazing lovely people. It has been my pleasure to meet some fantastic people who are truly as passionate about the Thermomix and making great food as I am.
• Started importing a chocolate product called Crio Bru to Australia which is the most amazing healthy yummy product around and if I can put it into food or recipes, I will…but perhaps you know that already? I totally love it, and so do thousands of other happy customers. We will be in retail outlets just as soon as I can take a minute to help my very valuable marketing guru business partner more than I am at the moment!
• I opened two online shopping carts…(HUGE! When I say ‘I’, I mean the royal ‘we’…) Thanks honey!
• Have plans in place for another exciting project to be launched hopefully before December 25th…but you never know! Stay tuned…
• Started working for Kleenmaid in Australia, and am truly impressed by their new range of products which are about to get installed into my kitchen Monday. We have already had some successful sales as a result of my running classes in their amazing Sydney showroom, so thank you for that, and for believing that I would not get involved with anything that was less than excellent!
• I have been approached on an almost weekly basis by other appliance companies and I am still considering some offers…when the travel options to Italy and Germany are secured, so will be the deals! (hahaha)
• I have happily welcomed Heilala vanilla, Margaret River Chocolate Factory, Fini Olive Oil, Lighthouse Flour, and fantastic branding from Braincells to the Cooking with Tenina team.
• The other team Tenina members that I have to mention are Hub and Spoke publishing and Scott Print. I just love getting the phone calls from Hub and Spoke and mentioning casually in conversation, ‘just talking to my publisher’ or ‘please hold for a second, my publisher is calling’…you get the idea…still makes me smile/downright grin!
• And last but not least, the guy that got all this web stuff started for me, made me join Twitter when it was still something that only birds did, and now screens my calls because there is always something new I need him to add, remove, fix from any and all of my sites, the very patient, Luke Holder, nephew, son, dad, inspirational Tech guru!

Sorry to put you through all that, but hey, what a year no?

I am looking forward to a great 2012 but before we can get there, we have the little matter of Christmas to attend to…so to the job at hand.

I would like to introduce you to some of the better Christmas recipes I have on here…there are now quite a lot, but here are my picks! (Well for this year anyhoo!)

ONE:

Pistachio Marzipan Christmas Trees

A little sneaky one from this year. Pistachio Marzipan, which I have to say has 100’s of applications and may just start showing up in all sorts of recipes from here on in…If you do not like marzipan, do yourself a favour and give this a go…it is not like any marzipan you have ever tasted.

TWO:

Toblerone Dip

Toblerone Dip…The fruit at Christmas in Australia is fantastic, so joosh it up a bit with this one. Simple enough to whip up in no time, and impressive enough to make your guests come back for more.

THREE:

How about a little tradition? I make this every year and this year I have made it and tweaked it, so essentially, this is a new recipe! Aren’t you lucky? Stollen is buttery, almond and fruit laden with just a hint of in this case, pistachio marzipan…there I go again with that marzipan…its the new Umami…for Christmas this year. All the good recipe blogs are wearing it!

FOUR:

Sugar Roasted Plum Salad

Well its all about sugar plums…so this had to make the cut. For me the lead up to Christmas is about eating yummy light meals that will get me through in between the myriad of parties and eating festivities that dominate the calendar at this time of year, so Sugar Roasted Plum Salad is delish, light and a great mid week lunch or an accompaniment to something more substantial on the weekend.

FIVE: Make a date with these rolls and you won’t be disappointed in love!! I enjoy a little sweetness with savoury from time to time and for some reason at Christmas time, we do that a little more often. (Think glazed ham, cranberry sauce etc) So these Date rolls go extremely well with Christmas Dinner, or lunch, or just after with left over sliced ham, turkey or both.

SIX:  I make these every year, without a doubt. They make the cutest presents ever and of course I can but for a fleeting moment, imagine that I am in Italy…that far away place that I still have never been to…is there anyone out there willing to send me? I pledge to bring back more than just a big smile, recipes and knowledge to share. Siena Cake originates from, well, Siena and  is sticky, fruity, and far nicer than anything you can buy.

SEVEN:

White Chocolate Christmas

When it comes to gifting food, I am not short on ideas and I did a post last year about just this, so not strictly a recipe on its own, but a great post that just may get you thinking about how clever you could be with a little prod, some cellophane, curling ribbon and a Thermomix…Gourmet Gifts couldn’t be easier…go on, go see.

EIGHT: Whilst we’re on the whole giving gifts from the kitchen routine (and white chocolate as well), these Minty White Choc Truffles were an instant hit at our house and I must say, I have had a lot of great feedback about them as well. Easier than running to the shop and fighting the crowds…prettier and more personal.

White Chocolate Minty Truffles

NINE: You can’t go past a great cookie recipe at Christmas and this is a bit of a grown up version of a Choc Chip cookie. Developed way back in my original Kleenmaid days, these are even easier in the Thermomix.

TEN:  Time for a quick salad? Red and Green Salad will always look festive and is so easy, I can barely call it a recipe…it is more of a suggestion. Enjoy on a hot day pre Christmas, throw a steak (or a prawn) on the barbie and you’re away!

ELEVEN and TWELVE: I don’t think Christmas can be complete without a little gingerbread…am I right? So even though these just went up on here, you must agree, they deserve a mention in the twelve recipes of 2011…I am hoping at some point to contruct a gingerbread house out of this cookie recipe, but with the big day fast approaching, I am not confident it will be this year it shows up! The flavored sugar recipe is delish as a Christmas tweak to anything requiring a little sugar, so think whipped cream, coffee, Crio Bru, your partner….you get the idea.

So from me, to you; and from Cookingwithtenina on Facebook, I wish you all a Merry Christmas. May you all have the time to Celebrate and Bake, and to feel the spirit of the season and may you all look forward to a wonderful 2012. (Cue the Christmas carols here….)

 

Sugar and Spice and all things nice….in a gingerbread cookie!

Sugar and Spice and all things nice….

Just a little quickie…a gift idea, or simply something to add to your pantry. Totally wonderful in Crio Bru as a sweetener. Actually part of the Gingerbread recipe coming your way soon. (SO go on, make it and get ready for that!) Bag it in small cellophane bags and tie the gingerbread recipe on…another Christmas dilemma sorted!

Then think laterally, add dried mango to coconut and glazed pineapple, and mill with palm sugar for a tropical twist…gotta do that one myself yet. But sounds amazing don’t you think? Or what about lime zest with pistachios and a little pandan for a bright green sugar for well…whatever you need a bright green sugar for! The possibilities are endlessssss

 NEED:

Zest 1 orange

Few coloured peppercorns

½ tonka bean (optional)

½ whole fresh nutmeg

½ vanilla bean

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cardamom seeds

15g candied ginger

½ cinnamon stick

150g dark muscovado unrefined cane sugar

DO:

Place all ingredients except sugar into Thermomix bowl and mill 5 sec/speed 9.

Add sugar and blend 10 sec/speed 10.

Package in cellophane bags and tie with ribbon as a gift. Attach a copy of a recipe to use it in or use in recipe as needed.